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What I do on Mondays!
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Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 17 7:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Sounds good Henry. We have seen quite a lot of bird activity round here lately too. Yesterday was sunny and warm here as well, and spring really seemed to be coming. We had to drive out a bit further north to pick up some silver birch, and on the drive saw plenty of crocus in flower by the side of the road in odd places. The heath we visited was still in winter mode, but going up to the woods again, the snow drops up the lane were lovely, and there was a brimstone flying round the gate. First of the year. There were also celandines in flower and saw the first primroses. There is a sort of green look to some of the tress where the buds are expanding a bit, and the silver birch that had been recently cut were bleeding well. Not a problem as they are trying to get rid of them and get the heather back. Hope spring holds off until we have got all our cutting done.

buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Mon Feb 27, 17 2:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Today was preceded by dire warnings of rain, but, somebody said, it would be worth putting on the oilies and braving the weather, because we might see a rare fungus that only appears once every twenty years or so.

So we braved the dreadful weather, which didn't appear - but then, neither did the rare fungus.

There were a few birds about - Greenfinch, Bullfinch, Goldfinch. A Common Gull sitting on a branch emerging from the water, assorted ducks (unbestimmte schwimmenten, as they used to say on the survey forms that my colleague used to type out, as far as I was concerned). There was a Song Thrush singing his heart out, and a distant Buzzard called.

I took a picture of this Stinking Hellebore (Helleborus foetidus) because there wasn't much else to photograph:




Probably a garden throwout, but I liked the look of it.

Henry

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 17 7:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I think we got your rain! Thanks for the picture. It is always difficult to know what is a garden throw out, and we are always on the lookout for Spanish bluebell in our wood for that reason.

Pity you didn't see the fungus. They seem to decide when and where they want to turn up. Not too rare, but I have seen magpie inkcaps in our woods only twice, and in completely different places.

Jam Lady



Joined: 28 Dec 2006
Posts: 2501
Location: New Jersey, USA
PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 17 3:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Years ago we were in Vancouver, Canada. At the bottom of a bluff there were the most marvellous bearded iris in bloom. It was clear that they were happily growing after being tossed over the edge from a garden at the top of the bluff.

Plants do seem to have this frustrating habit of growing more vigorously where they want to grow, rather than where I want them to.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Wed Mar 01, 17 8:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Think that is the definition of a weed Jam Lady.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Sun Mar 05, 17 9:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Sorry to hijack your thread Buzzy, but we saw the first wood anemone yesterday in a warm part of the woods. It came up in bud first thing, and by half way through the morning it was in flower with a friend in bud next to it.

buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Sun Mar 05, 17 12:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Mistress Rose wrote:
Sorry to hijack your thread Buzzy, but we saw the first wood anemone yesterday in a warm part of the woods. It came up in bud first thing, and by half way through the morning it was in flower with a friend in bud next to it.


How lovely MR. I'll be looking out for them next time we are out - we often go to a nearby site where we look for the uncommon fungus associated with WA - Dumontinia tuberosa.

Henry

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Mon Mar 06, 17 7:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I will look out for that. I saw something on Saturday that may have been that or scarlet elf cap. It was partially buried in leaves, and I only saw it through a fence while I was holding a gate open. I will have another look tomorrow when I am up there. I know they are supposed to be different colours, but the shape is similar, and I couldn't see it terribly well.

buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Mon Mar 06, 17 3:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

When Sunday was so wet and miserable, I had feared that today's walk might be cancelled. But no, the weather gods relented, and sent us sunshine instead.

We had a very enjoyable walk at a site I hadn't visited before. A few birds on the lake, including this nesting pair of Great Crested Grebes (Podiceps cristatus):



Then we left the lakeside and wandered through some rough woodland and plantation, where we found several species of fungi, including Scarlet Elf Cups, which haven't been reported from there before. Quite a good colony - we counted nearly sixty fruiting bodies. There were alos a couple of fungi that will have to go under the microscope before they can be named.

Henry

Jam Lady



Joined: 28 Dec 2006
Posts: 2501
Location: New Jersey, USA
PostPosted: Mon Mar 06, 17 5:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Saturday night we had a return to bitterly cold weather so I went on a rescue mission with the result that this was what my garden looked like on Sunday morning (and still does.)


Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Tue Mar 07, 17 8:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Great crested grebes are amazing with their underwater dives. We used to see them when we were on the canals, and they stayed down for ages, then always popped up where you didn't expect them. I will have another look at that fungus I saw the other day and see if I can identify it. We have had elf caps around there before, but it would be rather exiting if it was the rare one too.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Wed Mar 08, 17 8:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I had another look and it was definitely a scarlet elf cap, but on its own. The anemone has been joined by one friend, so it hasn't been too warm up there over the last couple of days.

Slim



Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6533
Location: New England (In the US of A)
PostPosted: Fri Mar 10, 17 2:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Not from me, and from a state quite a bit further west, but still, thought it might interest the participants of this thread to see what is happening in our woods around these times (though probably not so much right now as we're headed for cold temperatures again - supposed to hit -16 C tonight)

https://www.earthtouchnews.com/in-the-field/backyard-wildlife/this-black-bear-trying-to-wake-up-is-all-of-us-on-a-monday-morning

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45376
Location: yes
PostPosted: Fri Mar 10, 17 4:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

that bear needs a coffee pot for it's birthday

buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Fri Mar 10, 17 8:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

[quote="dpack:1474431"]that bear needs a coffee pot for it's birthday[/quote

]

Henry

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